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Reality TV & the car salesman |
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Written by Knight Ridder
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Wednesday, 19 April 2006 |
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THE SHORT REVIEW
He’s the manic man with a hip-hop car sales plan.
And burly, workaholic Chop (aka Joshua Towbin), a whirling 30-year-old Las Vegas dervish, is strutting his colorful entrepreneurial stuff on “King of Cars” Tuesdays on A&E.
The revved up reality series, which premiered April 4, chronicles the rather amazing success story of Chop and his young, hard-charging sales force at Towbin Dodge. Towbin adopted the larger-than-life persona of Chop for his rapping infomercials that turned him into a local legend.
The madcap goofiness of those TV plugs are at the heart of Chop’s motor sales mystique.
This puts a human face on the high-pressure life of selling cars. You might not want to buy a set of wheels from Chop, but you can’t fault their work ethic or entertaining TV style.
Mike Duffy, Knight Ridder
THE FULL STORY
Detroit may be America’s automobile capital, but apparently the “King of Cars” resides in Las Vegas.
At least that’s what some keen marketing by a Dodge car dealer and the A&E cable network would have you believe.
It’s finally happened: Someone’s turned one of the most mundane and oftentimes excruciatingly painful experiences known to man into a reality TV show. And for all intents and purposes, it’s a hit with viewers and a stroke of marketing genius by an entrepreneur.
“King of Cars,” which airs Tuesdays, follows Joshua (Chop or Chopper) Towbin, the flamboyant 30-year-old who runs Towbin Dodge in Sin City.
The show offers a unique look at buying a car, gives the car dealership plenty of plugs and it allows lots of face time for some key vehicles in Chrysler Group’s lineup.
The burly Towbin is a hip-hop artist who raps about cars and collects an assortment of vehicles from Benzes to Caddys. He’s shown wearing ornate bling-bling jewelry, stylish business suits and designer shades and driving a shiny, customized Dodge Charger.
Chrysler said it doesn’t have a say about the show’s direction.
“The show is standing on its own merits. Josh is doing very well and doesn’t seem to need our input or influence,” said Kevin McCormick, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman.
It’s the way Towbin sells cars that prompted A&E to cast him in a documentary called “Take This Job” in 2003. The series chronicled extraordinary people in interesting careers. The show that featured Towbin became the best rated, which led to the reality show.
The show features zany and unusual antics Chop uses to run one of the most successful car dealerships in the country and keep salesmen motivated and customers entertained.
The realness of the show drew an average 815,000 adults in the coveted 18-to-49 age group in the first two weeks on the air. It’s made Chop a national marketing hit.
Chop attributes his success to his love of cars. As he puts it: “My hobby is my job.”
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